The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
When a gear breaks, often times it is from cracking at the root of a tooth. The area of the root bears the highest stress concentration because it experiences the highest tension stress when its adjacent tooth (or teeth) is/are bearing a load.
To compensate for the significant tension stress that can be experienced at the root area of a gear tooth, designers have often used additional material to make the gear more robust. However, the inclusion of additional material that serves to strengthen the root area of the gear has drawbacks. For one, it increases the overall weight of the gear. In many applications, for example in aircraft and aerospace applications, minimizing the weight of all parts used is an important consideration. Additional weight reduces the payload that an aircraft or aerospace vehicle can carry, or alternatively increases the fuel required to power the aircraft or aerospace vehicle for a given trip or mission. Therefore, there is a significant interest in minimizing the weight of every component that is used, but without compromising the strength or durability of the component.